Malcolm Naea Chun, secretary general of the Anglican Indigenous Network, addressed Sacred Circle on Aug. 13, 2009.
The next AIN gathering is being planned for April 23-27 at the Kilauea Military Camp (a retreat site not an active military base) at the Volcano National Park on the island of Hawaii. Members are reminded that their delegations consist of five delegations to the appropriate programme (elder, youth, clergy, women and theological education). The Commission on Native Hawaiian Ministry (CONHM) is hosting this event and will be subsiding those delegates ground transportation, meals, and accommodations.
Secretary General the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon announced that The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori “has offered to work with the Indigenous Network” as a liaison person. The Joint Standing Committee has re-established the principle of appointing a liaison for each of the Networks.
More than other Lambeth Conference in memory has the words "indigenous" and "culture" made it into the concluding report as in this Indaba report. INDABA is explained as:
14. This conference has taken on a new form – the form of indaba – based upon an African ideal of purposeful discussion on the common concerns of our shared life. It is a process and a method of engagement as we listen to one another. An indaba acknowledges first and foremost that there are issues that need to be addressed effectively to foster ongoing communal living. It enables every bishop to engage and speak his or her mind and not to privilege the articulate or the powerful. Every aspect of the conference has been an expression of indaba, expressed through our worship and bible studies, self-select sessions, hearings, plenary sessions and speakers, listening and reflecting, and even conversation in the meal queues. Above all else, we have worked together on the themes of the Conference in our focussed [sic focused] indaba sessions, when we have spent two hours each day in purposeful conversation that invites us to encounter the reality of each other’s ministry and concerns. This person to person encounter has been one of the most encouraging, engaging – if at times frustrating - aspects of the Conference.
Two new indigenous theological resources have been recently released. In 2007 Pacific Indigenous Dialogue was published by the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji.
It is edited by Tui Atua Tupua Tamases Taisi Efi, the head of State of Samoa, and Tamasailau M. Suaalii-Sauni, Betsan Martin, Manuka Henare, Jenny Plane Te Paa and Taimalieutu Kiwi Tamases. It is available online from the UPS Book Centre for USD$25. www.uspbookcentre.com
The second resource is “The Gospel in Four Directions.” It is “a curriculum that provides an opportunity to engage with Scripture and the essence of Christianity through the lens of Diné (Navajo) cosmology.
It was developed and produce by members of the Indigenous People’s Network of Province VIII. It contains a guide and work book and four DVDs.
“Each DVD is identified by one of the four directions . . . [and each] is approximately three hours long. This resource is available through The Cathedral Center Press of the Diocese of Los Angeles.
The 8th Anglican Indigenous Network (AIN) gathering (31 March - 5 April) began with a traditional Maori welcome near the shores of Lake Rotorua, Aotearoa (New Zealand).